Top 40 Videos of 2008

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17 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About the Oscars

Before you fill out your Oscar ballots, before you start judging the red carpet fashions, and before you ultimately settle in to watch the 87th Annual Academy Awards this Sunday, you’ll want to impress your friends with your vast knowledge of Oscar’s long and illustrious history. Ok, fine, they might not care who hosted the show the most number of times or who was the youngest winner ever. But you can still read up on these interesting Oscar facts. Do it for you.
1. The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 – and the actual awards presentation lasted all of 5 minutes!
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The night was mainly about eating and dancing. Plus, each winner had already been named about three months prior.
2. The movie Wings was the first Best Picture winner.
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It was released in 1927 and contained the first on-screen kiss between two men.
3. Meryl Streep has had the most nominations of anyone – a whopping 19. (She’s only won three times.)
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4. Halle Berry was the first African-American woman to win Best Actress.
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She won for her role in Monster’s Ball, and was inexplicably mauled by Adrian Brody.
5. There are only three films in history that have won the top five major awards, for Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay: It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Silence of the Lambs .
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6. Tatum O’Neal is the youngest ever Oscar winner.
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She nabbed a Best Supporting Actress statuette at age 10 for her role in Paper Moon.
7. Christopher Plummer became the oldest ever Oscar winner when he won the Best Supporting Actor trophy for Beginners in 2010 at the age of 82.
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8. The phrase “And the winner is…” was abandoned by the Oscars in 1989 and replaced with “And the Oscar goes to…” Less harsh for the losers, maybe.
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9. Sorry, Billy Crystal. Bob Hope still holds the record for most frequent Oscar host. He hosted the show 19 times!
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10. The Oscar statue weighs 8 and a half pounds.
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So when the winners say, “This thing is heavy!” it’s actually kinda true.
11. The 31st Academy Awards in 1959 was the shortest Oscar telecast, clocking in at 1 hour and 40 minutes.
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We doubt we'll see a broadcast that short again.
12. Ellen’s Oscar selfie is the most retweeted tweet ever.
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It currently has almost 3.4 million RTs.
13. In 1969, Midnight Cowboy became the only X-Rated film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
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14. The statuette was actually named The Academy Award of Merit.
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The most popular theory is that it got the name "Oscar" because it looked exactly like an Academy librarian's Uncle Oscar. She apparently noticed the resemblance in 1931 and the name caught on by 1934.
15. Katharine Hepburn won 4 awards - the most of anyone in an acting category.
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Her wins were all for Best Actress.
16. Peter O'Toole has the most nominations (8) without a competitive win.
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He got an honorary Oscar in 2003. There's hope for you, Leonardo DiCaprio!
17. Believe it or not, the first woman to win Best Director was Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker in 2009.
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She beat her ex-husband, James Cameron, for the award.
Did YOU know all of these Oscar facts? Did anything surprise you? Tell us on Twitter!
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Getty Images/Noel Vasquez
Actor Robert Downey, Jr.'s son pleaded guilty to cocaine possession at a California court hearing on Friday (12Sep14).
Indio Downey, 21, was arrested after police spotted him smoking from a pipe while sitting in a car in West Hollywood in June (14), and he was later charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanour possession of drug paraphernalia.
On Friday, Indio, who attended the hearing with his father, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to complete a drug education program. He has been seeking treatment for the past 70 days at a facility and will remain there for another three months. If he stays sober and out of legal trouble, the case will be dismissed.
During the hearing, Indio told the judge, "I appreciate this opportunity, and I hope to make the most of it." The judge responded, "You've learned a lot of good coping skills from the program, I hope. This is a 24/7 disease... it can pop up at any time. You have to be vigilant and on top of it at all times. "I know in life people always look up to superheroes. You have contact with one superhero, and that's Iron Man."
Downey, Jr. has previously offered to support his son through his legal and drug woes, insisting addiction problems are a family issue.
Shortly after Indio's arrest, the actor released a statement, which read: "Unfortunately there's a genetic component to addiction and Indio has likely inherited it. Also, there is a lot of family support and understanding, and we're all determined to rally behind him and help him become the man he's capable of being. "We're grateful to the Sheriff's department for their intervention, and believe Indio can be another recovery success story instead of a cautionary tale."
The movie star spent years battling drug problems after finding fame in Hollywood in the 1980s.

Memento Films
The films have all premiered, the awards have been handed out, and the yachts are headed back home: the Cannes Film Festival has officially come to an end, which means even those of us lucky enough to spend two weeks on the French Riviera must now head for less-idyllic shores. But just because the festival has wrapped up, that doesn't mean there aren't a few films left to catch up on, and so we've rounded up the last of Cannes' biggest and buzziest films, including the winner of the Palme d'Or, a gang movie told entirely in Ukranian sign language and Kristen Stewart's best-reviewed film role yet.
Winter Sleep This year's Palme d'Or winner was also the longest film in competition, with a runtime of just over three hours. However, its epic length didn't deter judges from heaping praise on the film, which follows retired actor and hotel owner Mr. Aydin (Haluk Biginer) as he deals with the dissolution of his marriage to Nihal (Melisa Sozen). As the slow winter season arrives, the relationship between Aydin and Nihal becomes more and more fractured as she attempts to get him to face up to the issues that have made so many people turn against him. Winter Sleep is director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's fourth win at Cannes — he has won the second place award twice, in 2002 and 2011, and took home a directing award in 2008.
"Given that the title virtually encourages viewers to nap during the proceedings, Winter Sleep is no chore to sit through. Most of its characters are complex and compelling, and the actors’ faces, craggy or lustrous, reward fascinated study. The movie indulges one frustrating narrative trope in too many Cannes contenders: the unexplained disappearance of a major figure more than halfway through the story [...]. But as austere soap opera or probing character study, Winter Sleep validates the viewer’s attention, if not its nearly 200-min. running time — make that ambling time." - Richard Corliss, TIME
"That said, the performances are strong (bar a scene between Aydin and Nihal in which Bilginer suddenly plays Aydin as so one-note patronizing and condescending toward his young wife that we just wanted to punch him) and Ceylan’s and DP Gokhan Tiryaki's way with composition and cinematography is in evidence even in the interior scenes (which are most of them), lighting faces warmly and designing shots richly, which needs to happen when almost everything takes place in shot-reverse-shot, he-says-then-she-says format. But the unpleasantness of being constantly trapped in the middle of conversations of increasing resentment and bitterness starts to take its toll less than halfway through this marathon-length film as we start to realize that just as the characters all seem defined by the overweening desire to have the last word in every discussion [...], it’s a foible of Ceylan’s too." - Jessica Kiang, The Playlist
Mommy Helmed by 25-year-old Xavier Dolan, Mommy is set in the distant future, where parents are forced to either care for their unstable children or send them to detention centers. Diane (Anne Dorval), is a single mother who is struggling to raise her violent son, Steve (Antoine Olivier Pilon) on her own. Diane eventually begins to receive help from their mysterious new neighbor, Kyla (Suzanne Clement), and together, the three of them form their own dysfunctional family. Dolan was awarded the jury prize at the festival, an award that he (the youngest director in competition) shared with Jean-Luc Godard (the oldest), for his film Goodbye to Language 3D.
"Dorval gives a force-of-nature performance as Diane “Die” Despres, a glamorously trashy middle-aged widow whose teenage son Steve suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, bouncing off the walls as he struggles to contain his explosively violent temper. Pilon is great casting for Steve, charismatic and manipulative, volatile but vulnerable. [...] Diane and Steve are both flawed characters, neither victims nor villains. Their conversations are combative and prickly, full of salty slang and occasional physical contact, with teasing hints of incestuous intimacy that the script never fully explores. Unlike Dolan's typical protagonists, these are not bourgeois bohemian hipsters but damaged blue-collar outsiders, struggling yet ever hopeful, bursting with a vitality and vulgarity that give the film its raw humor." - Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter
"It's a needlessly complicated introduction that makes the film to come sound somewhat like science fiction; Die and Steve's household, however, is believably exceptional enough to render the mitigating circumstances unnecessary. Their sparring is engrossingly abrasive, but the film risks wearing itself (not to mention its audience) out within a mere quarter-hour. Dorval and Pilon, both remarkable, are cranked up to 11 from the get-go, while Dolan's chosen aspect ratio forces cinematographer Andre Turpin into a claustrophobically repetitive routine of alternating, invasive close-ups. It's bravura filmmaking, all right, but the center cannot hold." - Guy Lodge, HitFix
IFC Films
The Clouds of Sils MariaOliver Assayas' bilingual Hollywood drama stars Juliette Binoche as Maria Enders, an actress entering the twilight of her career, who has signed on to star in a revival of the play that made her famous about an ambitious young girl who drives an older woman to suicide. As she spends more and more time with the Hollywood starlet (Chloe Grace Moretz) taking over her old role, Maria's life begins to crumble, and she comes to rely on her loyal assistant and only friend Valentine (Kristen Stewart). The role forces Maria to confront the person she is and used to be and reconcile with her past and the impending pressures of time.
"Maria and Val love each other and live together, but their friendship has never been on an equal footing. Passing a cigarette back and forth, they proceed to rehearse the old play to the point where it highlights and defines the running tensions between them. Val, we come to realise, is the real Sigrid in this movie. Assayas is a supple, playful and confident director whose eclectic body of work has embraced mercurial satire (Irma Vep), period drama (Sentimental Destinies) and terrorist thrills (Carlos). [...] It's a study of the artistic elite from a fully paid-up member, a story that proves a little too tolerant of the preening peacocks at the summit and too glibly dismissive of the bottom-feeders (hacks, paps and internet trolls) down below." - Xan Brooks, The Guardian
"Assayas’ screenplay deftly celebrates the act of creation and neatly demonstrates that works of art, like people, can be viewed from different angles, their true meaning unknowable. The French filmmaker also neatly dovetails the relationship of Sigrid and Helena with that of Maria and Valentine: the pair are close, at times bordering on getting too close, and their power dynamic squirms and coils as the film develops - a Maloja Snake of its own." - Matt Risley, Total Film
Leviathan A modern re-telling of the Book of Job, Leviathan tackles the corruption of Vladimir Putin's government, and deals with "some of the most important social issues of contemporary Russia." The film centers on a family who is currently locked in a bitter dispute with its corrupt mayor over the waterfront property on which its house is built. But when the patriarch of the family calls in an old friend — who is now a big-shot lawyer — to help him, he may end up making things even more difficult for himself. Written and directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, Leviathan received rave reviews and took home the festival's prize for Best Screenplay.
"In “Leviathan,” which director Andrey Zvyagintsev has described as a loose retelling of the Book of Job, an ordinary man must wrestle with his faith not in God but in the Russian state — an epic struggle against a monster with many faces possessed of the capacity to bend the law to suit its own appetites. Resistance is futile, as they say, and yet this stunning satire’s embattled patriarch valiantly perseveres for the sake of his family, even as it crumbles around him. Debuting in competition at Cannes, this engrossing, arthouse-bound opus spans a meaty 142 minutes and unfolds with the heft of a 1,000-page novel." - Peter Debruge, Variety
"The film is really about contemporary Russia, the corruption of the current regime, exemplified by Vadim, who has a portrait of Putin on his wall [...] and of the increasingly insidious influence of the Russian Orthodox Church on the nation's leaders. Given Putin's feelings on dissent, and the partial-funding of the movie by a state body, it's a brave move, and an incredibly vital one, giving the movie a savage, fiery quality to it that continues to sear long after it's finished. And yet, it's not just political point-scoring either. There's a rich lyricism and poetry to the picture that promises more and more to unpack with every viewing." - Oliver Lyttelton, IndieWire
The Tribe Featuring a cast of deaf-mute actors, The Tribe is a teen-gang film told entirely in Ukranian sign language. The film doesn't feature any subtitles or translations, relying entirely on sign language and imagery in order to tell the story of a group of teenagers at a boarding school for the deaf who are average students by day and gangsters and prostitutes by night. Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy's ambitious project took home the top Critic's Prize awarded at the festival, as well as the France 4 Visionary Award.
"There have been countless films over the years about teenage gangs, their rites, rituals and violent codes of ethics, but Ukrainian-made and set The Tribe must surely be the first one featuring a cast entirely composed of deaf sign-language users. [...] However, the use of sign language, deafness and silence itself adds several heady new ingredients to the base material, alchemically creating something rich, strange and very original. Add in Valentyn Vasyanovych's silky smooth steadicam cinematography, sexually explicit imagery, strong critical support, and winning the top prize and two more besides in Cannes' Critics' Week sidebar (including one to assist distribution in France), and you've got a reasonably exportable item for the specialist market that doesn't even need subtitles." - Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter
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Goran Sivacki / WENN
It can be hard to take an actor seriously when he or she decides to switch gears and become a musician. Even the Real Housewives have opted to release songs available exclusively on iTunes. However, every so often, an actor or celebrity will shock you with their ability to hold a tune or at least produce a booty-shaking song.
Juliette Lewis
This August: Osage County star has been acting since she was a child. However, in 2003 she formed the band Julliette &amp; the Licks and proved that she also had music in her soul. The band captured '70s rock, '80s punk, and '90s alternative into a neat little package. The band broke up in 2009, but Lewis went on to released an additional solo album. Although her fame comes primarily from her roles in films like Natural Born Killers, Lewis has proven herself a part of rock music with multiple successful tours and albums.
Brittany Murphy
Murphy was a gifted actress who we'll always remember for films like Clueless, 8 Mile, and Sin City, but she tried her had at a few forays into music as well. Murphy sang vocals on Paul Oakenfold’s “Faster Kill Pussycat,” which became an international dance hit. She also sang some songs on the Happy Feet, soundtrack including Queen’s “Somebody to Love” and Earth, Wind &amp; Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland.” There’s no telling that had Murphy had the chance she would have released her own album and found success in the world of music.
Rose McGowan
McGowan is not the first person you’d think about when you think of music, though she did have a short engagement to Marilyn Manson. However, she has released a few songs. She provided vocals for the dance song “Superfabulous” by BT. She also sang in an episode of Charmed and a few songs for the Planet Terror soundtrack. Like her Bettie Page looks, her throaty soft voice is a throwback to days past.
Leighton Meester
Meester ruled television as teen fashion icon Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl. However, she has the potential to rule the music charts too. Although she hasn’t released her own album she has produced some pretty amazing songs. She sang “Somebody to Love” with a pre-“Blurred Lines” Robin Thicke. She also sang on the Cobra Starship song “Good Girls Go Bad.” She also sang her own songs for the film Country Strong.
Kelly Osbourne
Before Osbourne became the fashion icon on Fashion Police and after her punky album Shut Up, Osbourne released Sleeping in the Nothing. It offered a more thoughtful, and on-trend electroclash style. She proved herself to be a viable musician with the song “One Word.”
Tyra Banks
Banks’ attempts at acting and television hosting may be questionable. However, in Season 2 of America’s Next Top Model she premiered a song that was so painfully catchy that it’s a wonder that she never released an album. Seriously... Tyra lasted painfully long but her music career lasted just one episode. As you can see, her singing voice is way better than her ability to ask serious questions.
Tatyana Ali
Ali made a name for herself as the plucky daughter Ashley on Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She shattered her child star image with a run as a sexy R&amp;B singer. Her album Kiss the Sky has proven that she’s a legitimate R&amp;B songstress.
Katey Sagal
Sagal has had a ton of success on television with multiple successful series. Before her days as Peg Bundy, Sagal began her career as a singer and sang back-up for Bette Midler, Tanya Tucker, and Bob Dylan. She has also released two albums Well... and Room. She’s proven that not only does she have the golden touch with comedy, she has an amazing singing voice.
Jared Leto
Leto has found a ton of notoriety with Dallas Buyers Club. He has proven himself an actor and a heartrhob, but he’s also the face of his well known band 30 Seconds to Mars. The multi-talented figure has a rocking voice that had led his band to notable success.
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Tribeca Film via Everett Collection
Unfortunately saddled with one of those titles that leaves itself open to pun-filled reviews , there's not much truth to be found in The Truth About Emanuel, a film that's sadly unaware with how utterly ridiculous it comes across to the viewer.
The story follows Emanuel (Katia Scodelario), a surly teenager who's closing in on 18, but still feels pangs of guilt due to the fact that her mother died while giving birth to her. She takes out her anger on her new stepmom (Frances O'Connor), and her doting father (Alfred Molina) struggles to understand the fire burning inside his daughter. Emanuel begins to connect with her mysterious new neighbor Linda (Jessica Biel), who Emanuel agrees to babysit for.
The film's twist, which is revealed within the first act of the movie, is that Linda's daughter isn't a real baby, but a doll that Linda thinks is real and is using as a coping mechanism. Not wanting to break the spell that Linda has cast on herself, Emanuel goes along with Linda's psychosis, and what follows is a ridiculous game of "keep away" (or, better put, "pretend the baby is alive") like some twisted, direct-to-DVD sequel of Weekend at Bernie's. Emanuel bends over backwards to prevent anyone to get a glimpse at the plastic baby, and the last hour of the movie feels like a rejected C-plot of the worst mid-'80s sitcom never created.
The film's two protagonists are flip sides of the same grief stricken coin. Emanuel is a daughter riddled with the guilt over killing her mother, while Linda's very being is swallowed up by the loss of her child. The film wants to say some very poignant things about loss and grief, but even without the fake baby plotline flinging the story down into the bowels of unintentional farce, the film's writing is still too blunt and sloppy to express its ideas well. The characters ring false and the script clunks and clatters its whole way through with groan inducing lines. Adding the baby plotline on top of all that ensures that almost nothing in this film that comes off as "true."
There is a film in here somewhere that could have carried the story about the coping mechanisms we build to escape our grief, but The Truth About Emanuel just isn’t self aware enough to know how ridiculous it comes across, and the cast just isn't up to task to sell a dramatic story that could have just as easily worked as the main gag in a backburner SNL skit.
1/5
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ABC/Getty
After months of controversy and a set of not-so-secret secret emergency showcases, Saturday Night Live has chosen Sasheer Zamata to join the cast midseason as a Featured Player, making her the first black woman to be cast on the show since Maya Rudolph left in 2008. She is set to make her first appearance on the January 18 episode, alongside host and musical guest, Drake. While we're sure that almost immediately after she starts working at Rockefeller Plaza she'll be asked to play Michelle Obama, Beyonce, and Oprah Winfrey in rapid succession, we're really looking forward to seeing some of the original characters and sketches she will bring to the table. As an established writer, comedian and actress, a lot of her work is available online, including her web series, Pursuit of Sexiness, which has given us a glimpse at what's to come when she debuts on SNL.
In anticipation of her debut, we've taken a look at her original characters to try and determine where they would best fit in on Saturday Night Live, and which current cast members would work well opposite them.
Character: Thandie Snood, Host of "Fresh Findings"From: Her character reelHow It Would Work: Of all of the characters featured in Zamata's online videos, Thandie Snood feels the most ready to make the jump to Saturday Night Live. Firstly, she comes with a "talk show" premise already, and since the show has been relying more and more on talk and game show based sketches as of late, this could be a big advantage to helping Thandie Snood make it to air. In addition, the on-air breakdown that includes Thandie giving herself a pep-talk in the mirror and comparing a broken ukulele to the demise of her marriage make the character the right amount of odd to make it easy to expand the character into a longer sketch, resulting in a bigger freak out, or allowing other character the opportunity to react, both of which are things that SNL specializes in when it comes to developing sketches. Just add Kenan Thompson staring at Thandie with his signature wide-eyed confusion, and it could air right away.
Character: Jen at the GymFrom: Her character reelHow It Would Work: If Thandie was the most SNL-ready character that Zamata has in her arsenal, Jen at the Gym needs the most work to make it the viable focus of a sketch. However, the character's awkward nature and penchant for over-sharing mean that she could easily fit in with SNL's roster of weirdos and oddballs with a little bit of polishing. We could see Jen playing well off of another character or two, maybe as some sort of a double-act, or as the kind of character that pops up briefly for bit parts in sketches, just to add a bit of insanity to the proceedings. Think Triangle Sally meets Sally O' Malley.
Character: Sassy Mama Girlfriend, Host of "Watch Yo Mouth"From: Her writing reelHow It Would Work: There's no doubt that SNL will want to have at least one "sassy" character in their docket, so why not take Zamata's vegan cooking show host and find a way to work her into other sketches? While the cooking show featured in Zamata's reel is a great way to showcase the character, and features a great punchline about the side effects of cutting an onion, we see Sassy Mama Girlfriend hosting a character-based talk show. The best SNL talk shows have always revolved around some sort of outlandish, over-the-top host, like with "Bronx Beat" or the "Barry Gibb Talk Show," and we could see this character fitting in well amongst all of those other segments. It would also allow Zamata to keep the beats of sadness and frustration that are featured in the "Watch Yo Mouth" clip, but would also give her more time to explore them while giving Sassy Mama Girlfriend some characters to play off of. Consider it the perfect alternative to "Waking Up With Kimye."
Character: Melanie Mostnik, Host of "Morning After Meals"From: Her writing reelHow It Would Work: Both SNL and Zamata appear to be big fans of "host" characters, which would give her plenty of opportunities to come up with sketches that work with the tone of the show. But while Melanie would make a decent basis for a game show host, we love the premise of her hosting a cooking show in the kitchen of her one night stands, and think it would work perfectly as a filmed sketch, with Taran Killam or Brooks Wheelan playing the surprised guy. With the right amount of nervous energy on his part, and the right amount of annoyance and forced pleasantness on hers, we could easily see this fitting in on the show. SNL has been utilizing a lot of filmed sketches this season, with varying levels of success, but we think that "Morning After Meals" has an original enough premise that it would wind up being one of the better ones this season.
Character: N/A, "White Ad Executives Make Commercials for Black People"From: Her writing reelHow It Would Work: Zamata doesn't actually appear in this sketch, which is one of many commercial parodies that she has featured on her reels, but of all of them, it feels like it would work the best on SNL. Between the Morgan Freeman narration and the ridiculous acting, the sketch balances silliness with satire, which would make it a good fit for the commercial slot on the show. SNL has always been well-known for its commercial parodies, and Zamata's reel proves that she has experience writings ones that are snappy and memorable. Plus, her writing talent will help her establish herself on the show quickly, and would allow her voice from getting lost in bit parts and one-off characters. And since we're sure someone on that show has a Morgan Freeman impression ready to go, she won't have to waste any time when it comes to developing new commercials.
Character: Male Stand-upFrom: Chioke Nassor's Storytime SeriesHow It Would Work: Zamata uses an obnoxious, aggressive male stand-up character when she is re-imagining an incident where she was flashed on the street from his perspective. He starts off the story loud and brash, full of confidence, and then, as his set goes on, he starts to become sad about the bad first impression he made, and the possible loss of a genuine connection. We could see this character working well as "one of the guys" in a sketch with Jay Pharoah, but the real similarity is with Kyle Mooney, whose Internet sketch group Good Neighbor features a surfer dude named Todd, who also has moments of genuine self-reflection and existential crisis. Mooney's digital sketches have been among the highlights of the new season, and we think that he and Zamata would work well together, creating weird situations and characters that feel the need to think back on their life choices. Together, they will be laughing and learning.
Character: Cashier; BaristaFrom: Inside Amy Shumer; Totally Biased with W. Kamau BellHow It Would Work: Both of these characters are smaller, side characters, who are more of the straight-men than many of Zamata's other characters. However, both show that she plays off of other people really well, which is always an asset in sketch comedy, and that she has the ability to make a quieter character just as memorable as one that is loud and over-the-top. As a featured player, it's likely that Zamata will have to play a similar role in many of the sketches she's in this season, and her annoyed cashier on Inside Amy Shumer proves that she will likely be able to keep from getting lost in all of the insanity that is coming her way. It also would make her a good counterpoint for someone like Kate McKinnon, who specializes in weirdos, as she wouldn't be bowled over the force of McKinnon's characters. Plus, her barista on Totally Biased will hopefully give her the basis for a lot of character whose oddity is scaled down, which would help balance out the structure of the show.
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Warner Bros.
Give Martin Freeman an empty room and he'll give you comedy. The best parts of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — an admittedly mishandled movie in large — involved his subdued grimaces, his Chaplinian waddling, and the way he carried himself with equal parts neurosis and snark in every scene. If there is one primary misstep of An Unexpected Journey's terrifically improved sequel, The Desolation of Smaug, it is the spiritual absence of Bilbo Baggins.
Freeman's good-natured but disgruntled Hobbit takes a backseat to the Dwarf team in this chapter of Peter Jackon's three-part saga, distributing the heavy lifting among the front lines of the bearded mooks. Thankfully, we're not shafted with too much "Thorin's destiny" backstory, instead focusing on the trek forward, through far more interesting terrain than we got last time around. The Dwarves voyage through a trippy woodland that'll conjur fond memories of The Legend of Zelda's unnavigable forest levels and inside the borders of Lake-town, a man-occupied working class monarchy that is more vivid and living than any place we have seen yet in the series. And while Unexpected Journey's goblin caverns might have been cool to look at, none of the quests in Desolation feel nearly as close to a tangential detour. Every step the Dwarves take is one that beckons us closer to the central, increasingly engaging story.
Desolation is not entirely without its curiosities. While Gandalf's mission to meet the Necromancer serves to connect the Hobbit trilogy to the Lord of the Rings movies, the occasional cuts over to the wizard's pursuits are primarily distracting and just a bit dull. Although we're happy to welcome the Elf race back into our Middle-earth adventures, it's easy to imagine a version of this story that didn't involve side characters like Legolas and Kate... I mean, Tauriel... and still felt whole (perhaps even more cohesive). The latter's love affair with hot Dwarf Kili seems like a last minute addition to the canon, and one not built on anything beyond the cinematic rule that two sexually compatible attractive people should probably have something brewing alongside all the action.
Warner Bros.
But the most egregious of crimes committed by Desolation is, unquestionably, the shafting of Bilbo Baggins to secondary status. Yes, he proves himself a savior to his fellow travelers four times in the film, but long stretches of action go by without so much as a word from the wide-eyed burglar. When he finally takes center stage in his theatrical face-off with Smaug — an exercise in double-talk reminiscent of Oedipus outsmarting the Sphinx — the film picks up with a new, cool energy, with a chilling fun laced around the impending doom of their back-and-forth. We've been waiting since the first frames of Unexpected to see how the dragon material will pay off, and it does in spades... albeit in the final third of Desolation, but with equal parts gravitas and fun, to reunite us with our Tolkien passions once more.
Benedict Cumberbatch's dragon doesn't do much to subvert expectation — he's slithering, sadistic, vain, manipulative, and vaguely Londonian. But tradition feels good here. Smaug's half hour spent toying with the mousey Bilbo (who does get a chance to showcase his aptitude at small-scale physical comedy here) is terrific in every way.
Its Hobbit problem aside, Desolation proves itself worthy of Bilbo's past proclamation. "I'm going on an adventure!" more than pays off here, in the form of mystifying boat rides, edge-of-your-seat efforts in dragon slaying, and the most joyful action set piece we've seen in years. Twelve Dwarves, twelve barrels, and one roaring river amounts for enough fun to warrant your trip to the theater for this latest outing into Middle-earth.
3.5/5
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ACE/INF
Donnie Wahlberg recently announced that he and his brother Mark are going to star in a new reality series for A&amp;E. The show, Wahlburgers, will follow the day-to-day operation of their Boston-based hamburger joint of the same name and their attempts to get a second restaurant in Toronto off the ground. The brothers will be joined by their mother, Alma, Wahlburgers executive chef and third Wahlberg brother Paul, and an assortment of the friends and family — many of whom inspired characters on Entourage. Although we're excited to see more of the Wahlberg family and watch their trials and triumphs when it comes to establishing Wahlburgers as a major franchise, we're mostly just interested in seeing more Donnie on our televisions.
When it comes to the Wahlberg brothers, Donnie always comes out on top. He's funnier, more easy going, more charming, and will generally make for a better reality television star than Mark. Plus, he probably won't get offended when clips of the show inevitably end up on an episode of The Soup. But since we know that our decision is likely a controversial one, we've had Donnie and Mark face off against each other in six categories to show you why we think that Donnie is the better Wahlberg.
Music Careers: While nobody can deny that "Good Vibrations" is one of the catchiest songs in existence, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch don't hold a candle to New Kids on the Block. Not only did New Kids sell more records and have more hits than the Funky Bunch, they also managed to reunite in 2008 to a great deal of success, and when they formed a supergroup with fellow boy band the Backstreet Boys, they found even more success and essentially kicked off the the boy band renaissance we're currently experiencing. Plus, they're set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame sometime this year. Winner: Donnie
Television Careers:Although Mark is better known for his film career, he does have one major television credit to his name: Entourage, which he created and produced based on his own life. The show has been a massive success, running for eight seasons and spawning a developing spin-off film. However, Mark has only ever appeared on it briefly, for a quick cameo here and there. Donnie, meanwhile, has not had any of his shows become monster hits like Entourage, but he did star in the critically-acclaimed mini series Band of Brothers as Second Lieutenant C. Carwood Lipton, which earned him a role on another critical favorite, Boomtown. He currently stars on the cult hit Blue Bloods, and is the executive producer of Boston's Finest, a show about the Boston police force that has recently been renewed for a second season. Since Donnie's shows are of a higher quality than his brother's, and since he's actually starring in them, we're going to have to give this point to the elder Wahlberg. Winner: Donnie
Film Careers: This is the category in which Mark has the distinct advantage, having earned an Oscar nomination for his work in The Departed, a Golden Globe nomination for his role in The Fighter and starred in major hits like Boogie Nights and Ted. However, despite becoming a bonafide movie star, Mark has made some notable mis-steps - including M. Night Shymalan's The Happening and the upcoming Transformers sequel. Donnie, meanwhile, has had roles in several Saw films, The Sixth Sense and Righteous Kill, alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, but his movie career has been, on the whole, less well-received than Mark's. Winner: Mark
Sense of Humor:Despite starring in Ted, one of the most successful comedies of recent years, Mark doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor when it comes to himself. A prime example of this is the way he threatened to beat up Andy Samberg for making fun of him in the "Mark Whalberg Talks to Animals" sketches. Sure, he apologized and later appeared on Saturday Night Live in order to poke fun at himself, but something tells us that Donnie would've just taken the whole thing in stride. Besides, he's got to have a good sense of humor to have endured all of the boy band jokes that have come his way over the course of his career. Winner: Donnie
Sports Fanaticism: Donnie is well-known for being a hardcore fan of the Boston Celtics, and has even narrated a documentary for ESPN about the team. Like Spike Lee for the Knicks or Jack Nicholson for the Lakers, Donnie is the Celtics' most famous fan, and other Celtics fans love him for it. Mark, meanwhile, actually owns a portion of a sports team — the Barbados Tridents, a cricket franchise. Although, as New Yorkers, it pains us to say this, the Celtics are a much better-known, more relevant team in the United States, and therefore, we're going to have to give this point to Donnie as well. It might be a controversial move, but in our opinion, basketball beat cricket any day. Winner: Donnie
Personality:In general, Donnie gives off the impression of being much more laid-back and fun to be around than his younger brother, who is prone to profanity-laden rants and violence. Mark seems like the kind of guy it would be fun to have a drink with every so often, but you'd probably always be worried that he would get you into some sort of altercation. Donnie, however, seems like better long-term-friend material; the kind of guy who will back you up in a fight, but who's probably more interested in the basketball game than starting any trouble. Winner: Donnie
So, there you have it: with five points to one, Donnie is by far the better Wahlberg brother. Let's hope his appearances on Wahlburgers only serve to make us like him more.
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Billy Joel will ring in 2014 at his first official New York gig since 2008. The Piano Man hitmaker, who has toyed with retirement in recent years, wowed fans at a last-minute warm-up gig for a series of European shows at the Paramount Theater in Huntington, Long Island earlier this month (Oct13), and left the stage hinting that he was planning other shows in his native state.
Now he's making devotees' New Year's dreams come true by announcing plans to perform at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on 31 December (13).
The holiday show will be his first Big Apple concert since he closed down Shea Stadium over five years ago.
The gig is a dream come true for Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark, who admits Joel has been at the top of his wish list of performers ever since the new arena opened last year (12).
He says, "When we opened Barclays Center 13 months ago, Billy was one of the must-have artists for our building and we are thrilled that he will be ringing in the New Year on Brooklyn's biggest stage. New York City born and Long Island raised, Billy is an iconic New Yorker and we are looking forward to a memorable evening."
Joel stepped away from the concert stage in 2010 after undergoing double hip replacement surgery. He returned briefly at the end of last year (Dec12) when he stole the show at the 12-12-12 Hurricane Sandy relief benefit show at Madison Square Garden.

Alix Malka
It takes a lot to raise eyebrows in Brooklyn. Jean Paul Gaultier is about to.
Within minutes of entering the main exhibition space for the retrospective of iconoclastic French designer Jean Paul Gaultier at the Brooklyn Museum, you feel something in the air. Standing in front of one of his polysexual fantasias on French sailor attire, you notice the mannequin is eyeballing you: move to the left, his eyes follow you. And then they follow you back. You are being cruised by a motion detector.
It comes as no surprise that this prolific, ingenious and gutsy original should have a few tricks up his sleeve. And having read about this traveling show you might imagine yourself prepared for what you will find there. But you will likely be surprised. And not by the exhibition technology.
Patrice Stable/Jean Paul Gaultier
It’s the ideas. The show is packed with them, and not simply gallery to gallery. It's outfit-to-outfit, head to toe. By the time you've scanned past the parasol of human hair, across the dress crocheted from individual crocodile scales and over the gauze jumpsuit encrusted in sharkskin, metal and marcasite embroidery, you have spanned centuries of artifact and crossed continents.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Christine Guest
There is sartorialism re-imagined as cages, an acid-washed denim ball gown with individually applied ostrich plumes, a wedding gown made from an African mask and a can-can skirt lined in human legs. There are punks, pansies, sirens and brutes, invisible women and men in brassieres, women as iconography and women who are buildings. If you are not amazed, there is no hope for you.
Patrice Stable/Jean Paul Gaultier
But the best thing — the very best thing — about the volume of dreams that have passed between Gaultier's ears is how densely political, humanistic and openhearted it all is. Every stitch in this exhibition is dedicated to the citizens of the world he has watched like a hawk all these decades. You won't see one drop of cynicism in the inspiration the couturier has plucked off the streets. He is in love with us.
And he has loved us in style.
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